OK, I am test fitting fenders, running boards, headlight bar on 32 ford PU. I have repo steel fenders, repo dropped headlight bar, repo fender braces, repo running boards. I know, a recipe for disaster. The running boards( old V-8 shop repos) fit good. All holes line up. The fron fenders seem to fit good against them and also lay on the frame nicely. On both sides. With everything clamped together and on the frame, The headlight bar bolt holes in the fenders are about 3/4 " too high on each fender when laying the bar on them. The braces dont line up real good but arent as bad. With a long level across the top of the fenders they are the same height. Anyone run into this? Only thing I can see to do is weld the fender holes up and drill new ones, but I wouldnt have those dimples that are stamped there also.
Bar is LOWER than the holes... Most common situation on '32's is that bars are too high, because everyone use the rubber gaskets between bar ends and fender, which parts are non-original things not used on original '32's. Toss in a pair of the gaskets and see what happens...that may even have been planned by the repro people (sorry, too funny!!) since everyone seems to think the gaskets original...
Thanks, I will try that, but I dont think the gasket can change it enough. The bar measures about 42" end to end and stretching a tape measure across from right above top fender hole on each side checks about 43 3/8 inches.
I just measured two 32's, my completely original 5W with the stock headlight bar was 41" and my 3W that has an aftermarket (Bob Drake) dropped headlight bar was 42". Try this, take the fender braces off and keep the fenders slightly loose and bolt your headlight bar up and see how it looks. Keep both fenders level. It shouldn't change it that much. In my experience the aftermarket fender braces are awful and aren't even close to the originals. If you change anything, work on the fender braces to fit what you have as I have described.
I also think you should trust the fenders, but not the braces. If the brace is even a quarter of a degree off at the base where it bolts to the frame you will be an inch off at the headlight bar. I'd bolt the fender in place with the running board, check that it looks good (not droopy), then lay the headlight bar on and see how that fits. If you like it, then bend the braces to match that setup. Or maybe you need to bend the braces AND the headlight bar. Or maybe the braces need to be lengthened/shortened?
The result I was getting was with the fenders clamped to the running boards and clanped to the top of the frame. Everything looked great with the fenders laying in their natural state as far as laying flat on the frame and tight against the side of the frame and the ends of the boards. The boards are level. I did not have the braces on. I will loosen the fenders some and see if I can lean them up a little to bring the headlight holes in some. Maybe the fender flange that runs on top of the frame has the angle off a little. How do you tell if the fenders are about the right " height" as far as not drooping?
Eyeballs. And just make sure each side matches the other. There are probably no remaining 32 Fords with the fenders in their original assembly-line state. Everything has moved around some. Those frames are very flexy, so even measuring off a prefect original will have some discrepancies from another perfect original.
Can you remove those little inserts (where the bar bolts to) in the channel of the braces very easily? If so, I'd cut those out and reposition them to match the fenders. Then heat and bend the outer edge of the brace to mate with the fender lip. Last, heat and bend the headlight bar to meet the holes in the fender. Maybe even cut some out of the bar if needed.
Don't over think this. Henry didn't build perfect cars. Extremely anal builders have chopped up perfectly original fenders because the shape when viewed from the front didn't match right to left. Henry's die makers weren't able to match them side to side perfectly either. Your reproduction fenders are pretty close to original, and like the originals their shape may change slightly over the life of the die, composition of the metal and the fender beading process. I wouldn't cut anything up on the fender because you are just inviting future metal failure. For reference if you want to look at thousands of '32 Fords just Google "32 Ford pics" it and look at the front views of them. Your biggest issue is still the fender braces because the reproductions are junk. They don't match the fender at all, especially where the fender meets the frame. If you can, locate (beg, borrow or buy) some originals to compare them and you'll see what I am saying. Finding an original that hasn't been bent and mangled is a challenge in itself. Another thing I like to do to gain tire clearance and eliminate bolting the brace to the outside of the fender is to cut off the brace just past the headlight mount. This eliminates stress cracking around the bolt hole on the outer edge of the fender. I use body mount welting or thin foam self-adhesive weather stripping under the fenders and between the fender brace and fender to avoid metal to metal contact. Hope this helps you.
I bolted the braces on loosely so they were a little sloppy. I then placed the fenders on the braces and bolted the fenders to the frame loosely. Then I bolted the running boards on and finally the headlight bar. After all of the bolts were in place I slowly tightened all of them a little bit at a time until everything was tight and it worked for me.
I have glass fenders on my truck. I found leaving all bolts loose line it all up and see if that works. On my roadster the problem was the inside bolt on the dropped headlight bar.
Reproduction lite bars & fender braces are rarely the same as originals. If you can, borrow some originals & see how things fit.
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